To Become Blind

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see may become blind.” John 9:39.

The Pharisees claimed they got the message, which was their mistake. If you or I claim we can see truth, we’re held responsible for it; our response, our actions taken, even our opinions about it come into play. So their question, “What? Are we blind too?” leaves them un-reconciled to God because they didn’t accept the One He sent. Sure they were hanging out with Jesus, sure they were listening to His teaching and debating various points, or approving where they deemed it sensible to do so, but they never let Him become their master.

After all the miracles, teaching and the constant example of His life being lived out in front of them, they came to the same conclusion about Him (probably: good man, prophet but not the messiah), therefore their sin remained. Their claim to being able to see the light, which was probably true with Jesus standing right in front of them, left them no excuse for not accepting it whole-hearted and with enthusiasm.

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Hard words. True, but hard.

Jesus, by the way, didn’t admit they could see only that they claimed they could see. So what was this “sin” He was talking about?

As near as I can construct it from the context, it was their refusal to make Jesus Lord and Master of their lives. The contrast in this story is powerful and divides the righteous from the unrighteous like a sword piercing through the bone to the marrow, between the soul and spirit and truth versus lie. A man born blind, rejected by his nation due to a misfortune of time and chance accepts Jesus outright because he’s healed. Those in power reject Him outright because He doesn’t meet their expectations or understanding of reality. The blind man’s confession of faith, based on his healing and subsequent acquittal of all guilt concerning a specific sin for which his family might be punished, is held up in stark contrast to those who merely watch the miracle take place from the sidelines and critique its validity. Thus the guilt of sin remains on those who see the evidence before them but refuse to give into its significance.

Jesus didn’t say a person who committed a sin was not guilty of committing the sin; rather they were not held responsible for the sins committed in ignorance. Being blind to the truth takes away the accountability to it. Yet this doesn’t get anyone off the hook if they’ve had the opportunity to accept light into their lives and rejected it out of preference for the darkness. At the same time, we are all held responsible for the light we’ve been given.

The Pharisees with Jesus were held responsible for the light they were being shown; the Jews in the synagogue were held responsible for the light they were shown but refused to acknowledge even a little bit.